Posts Tagged ‘carrots’

Today, I realised that my intention for 2013 is to get the poison out of my life. I know that the word “detox” normally conjures up ideas of colonics, crazy crash diets and unlikely health fads, but the real meaning of the word “detox” is to detoxify. I think the start of the year heralds many positive changes for my life, and it’s time to make those positive changes to serve as an antidote to the things that have been undermining my happiness, sometimes sneakily and sometimes less so.

I have so far been cigarette-free for nearly a week. I know it’s early days, but this is a good sign that I’ll be able to maintain this in the long term. Toby and I have been considering healthy eating alternatives, and today he made us both a lunchbox filled with couscous, sliced peppers, carrots and cucumber, and some hummus. It was healthy and filling – not particularly inspiring, but nevertheless it made a nice change from my usual lunch and it did keep me fuller for longer! So after a few weeks of getting used to a more varied lunch through the week incorporating more vegetables (I am also embracing Greek yoghurt as a snack), I’m going to attempt to reintroduce sit-ups and press-ups back into my life. I knew that quitting smoking would work best cold turkey for me; other things, like introducing healthier food and exercise, are going to be a more gradual change that I will be fairly loose with in an attempt to make these changes something I can ultimately incorporate into my life without resenting.

In two weeks’ time, I will start a new job at a university in central London! I am so thrilled to have got this new position, which is similar in nature to my current one but in an HE environment, which to me is a real step up and will open up more career opportunities. It also allows me to escape the toxic and insane atmosphere and games in my current workplace. To me, this is a perfect example of getting some of the poison out of my life – dealing with resentment, uncertainty and unnecessary stress every day in the workplace has a detrimental effect after a while, and I don’t need to be treated that way. So I’ve chosen to move on to somewhere that will hopefully respect me a lot more. Toby is also excited because I will rant less about work at the end of most days!

Following up from my blog lamenting the prospect of Christmas spent with my family, it was actually more comically awful than I could ever have anticipated – although my homosexuality and my relationship with Toby had nothing to do with the drama. My parents had a massive row which made me feel like it was 20 years ago screaming at them to leave each other alone and solve their problems; my mother subsequently broke her wrist; my cousin, uncle and aunt revealed a casual homophobia that I found bizarre. And due to the stellar weather (*sarcasm*), the transport getting to and from Bristol was fucked up both times. In summary, even though I had pretty much made up my mind before even going home, this winter’s experience has confirmed that next Christmas will be my first London Christmas, creating my own traditions and carving out my independence. I will still see my family for a weekend around that time, and I will see Toby’s family for a weekend around that time too – but I need at least one Christmas where I am nobody’s child and instead am free to be my own person. I am already looking forward to it.

I feel like even if a couple of the changes I am setting out here have fallen by the wayside by the end of the year, that 2013 signifies a new start, a new day and a refined (if not “new”) me. Along with this, I’ve already started writing lyrics for a new album that will reflect maturity, independence, hope, strength and importantly, vibrancy. By removing all of the poison from my day-to-day existence (physically, mentally and emotionally), I hopefully will have more freedom and energy to enjoy life and really make the most of it.

Yesterday after a wonderful walk around Holland Park, Toby and I were stuck as to what to cook for dinner. Wandering around Tesco on Kensington High Street and picking up items for the weekly shop, we hit upon the idea of something simple and quick, involving chicken and satay sauce. And thus, this month’s chicken satay stir fry was born.

It was good revision for me in slicing onions (1), carrots (1) and peppers (1, red) into fine, fine slivers, and then it allowed me to use the wok that has been living in my kitchen cupboard for the first time. Basically, once you’ve cut your vegetables into thin slices, and you’ve sliced your chicken breasts (2, for two of us) into thin strips, you put the heat on your hob to maximum, put the wok on top, add a slug of cooking oil, and add the chicken. Have a spatula at the ready (and avoid the spitting oil – although it wasn’t too bad when I did it) because you need to stir, stir, stir! Everything happens hot and fast in a stir fry (that’s why you need all your ingredients to be thin) – stir the chicken, ensuring that both sides get a chance at touching the wok and thus cooking. Once there’s no more pink, raw-looking parts on the chicken and all of it looks white, then add the rest of your ingredients. Stir stir stir! (This recipe is good for your arm muscles, but incredibly annoying if your hob is at shoulder-height, like mine.) After a few minutes, add a whole jar of satay sauce (i.e. 500g) and keep stirring. Eventually, once all of your ingredients are nicely coated, you can relax with the stirring and turn the heat down a bit, to keep things bubbling along. Stir the whole mixture from time to time.

We also had some rice, but we just used microwaveable egg-fried rice – 1 sachet of Uncle Ben’s per person. This takes 2 minutes in the microwave, and I love it for that very reason. Once your stir fry has been bubbling along for about 10 minutes, it should be ready – taste and check! Then dump everything on your plate, and you should have something that looks as unappetising as this:

yes, I have new dinner plates!

Unappetising, but yummy! Toby loves satay sauce, but obviously you can use whatever sauce or flavouring you want. I liked this meal because it was easy, I got to practise my ingredient-preparing skills, including prep time the whole thing was done in about 30-40 minutes, and it made plenty of food! I couldn’t actually finish all of mine (there was enough for both of us to have two portions), but if you’re hungry then this should do you. Plus you get an arm workout along the way. Enjoy!